Senckenberg researchers Serena Abel and Angelika Brandt, together with colleagues from the Alfred Wegener Institute—Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research (AWI) and Goethe University in Frankfurt, have investigated microplastic pollution in the Western Pacific Kuril-Kamchatka Trench. They found between 215 and 1,596 microparticles per kilogram in each of a total of 13 sediment samples from depths of up to 9,450 meters—more than previously detected. Their study, recently published in the journal Science of The Total Environment, reveals that the deep sea serves as the "oceans' garbage dump"—and it is surprisingly dynamic when it comes to deposition. The high biodiversity at the deepest ocean floor is severely threatened by microplastic pollution.
